Great German/European Food at CURATE, Resorts World Sentosa (a 4 Hands Kitchen dinner)

👍 Very good German-focused European food. Gorgeous dining area.
👎 Inconsistent meal pacing; Portions a little on the small side.

Another month, another 4 Hands Kitchen dinner: This time heading to Resorts World Sentosa's CURATE! This week, CURATE's Chef Benjamin Halat hosts one-starred Chef Nicolai Wiedmer from STUCKI in Basel (the Swiss-German speaking side of Switzerland). Both Chefs have cooked extensively in Germany / Switzerland, so we're expecting a very heavy German influenced dinner.


A small note on the dining area, which is cozy but oh-so-gorgeous. Several tables are within full view of the kitchen (and the pass) - which we like - but if you're not interested in observing the chefs, do request to be seated in the corner off to the side.


Up first, an amuse bouche of Eierstich, an egg custard not unlike Japan's chawanmushi. In this rendition it's topped with small cubes of white asparagus, ham, and tomato, which provides an interesting tangy, refreshing complement to the deliciously-seasoned egg.


Next up: Cured Trout (by Chef Wiedmer), with Pickled Cucumber and a starchy, sticky Jasmine Rice Cream. The trout was good, and the cucumbers pickled just right (without being overly sour like gherkins sometimes are). We weren't really that enamoured by the starchiness of the rice cream, though. Acquired taste / texture perhaps.


My mobile phone camera doesn't do justice to the beauty of Chef Halat's first dish: The Grilled Scallop served with Sauerkraut, sauerkraut consomme, and parsley cream. The scallop was cooked just right, but the amount of sauerkraut might be a little excessive if you're not a fan of pickled flavours. I am, though, so I found the starter delicious and appetite-whetting.


Next up: Chef Wiedmer's Ossetra Caviar, served alongside a delicious earthy piece of eel in yuzu dashi and celery. We were annoyed enough by the 45-minute gap between this plate and the previous one that we struggled to really enjoy it, though.


Chef Halat is up again with a perfectly-cooked piece of Pike Perch. Or at least, the flesh was perfectly cooked; we didn't much care for the limp skin. The lentils and beurre blanc accompaniment was divine, though: Who knew fish and lentils went so well together? Standout dish of the night for us.


Last savoury plate of the night was Chef Wiedmer's Lamb Loin (and lamb belly) served with Hazelnut Dukkah, Carrot, and Dill. With the lean loin and fatty belly - you get the best of both lamb worlds, really. The accompanying sauces and carrot mash was also delicious, with Dill standing in as a surprisingly competent replacement for the more typical mint jelly / sauce.


Finally, Chef Halat presents his rendition of Snickers, with Dulcey (a chocolate from Varlhona), peanuts, and caramel. It's like eating a deconstructed snickers bar, only with much more chocolate than peanuts. Oh, and much, much more delicious.


We end the dinner with some petit fours and coffee ... and with stomachs perhaps not quite satisfied. The darling and I aren't large eaters by any means, but even we were tempted to adjourn somewhere else for supper.


CURATE normally prices their dinners from s$148 (5-courses) up to s$228 (8-courses), and so - like pretty much every other fine dining restaurant in the city - isn't cheap. The food overall was really good, though, and perhaps worth a visit just for the fish dish alone. CURATE is in Resorts World Sentosa, and is walkable from the 'free entry' area of Sentosa. Reservations recommended; Non-Halal.

Look See Eat

"Best in KL" Roast Pork Knuckle - Bavarian Bistro @ Lot10 Hutong Food Court

Wokay, so in a popular local forum that shares the same name as a techie shopping mall in Bukit Bintang, some random person said that the Roast Pork Knuckle in the Bavarian Bistro in Lot 10's Hutong food court is the "best in town." So I drag the darling along with me to go try.

You know lah - since it's on the internets it must be true!

The Bavarian Bistro is somewhere in the middle of Lot 10's Hutong food court - can't miss it! Lots of different beers available if you're a kaki botol.


Fusion decoration - statue of Chairman Mao also adorns the counter.


On to the food though! The Roasted Pork Knuckle (MYR37.00) was, to put it nicely, a disappointment. The skin was roasted very well - it was nice and crispy without being tough or burnt, but that was about the only 'plus' point. There was a lot of meat but it was rather plain tasting and something like half of the meat was dry and hard and bordered on inedible even after drenching with gravy.

Comes with sauerkraut (which wasn't sour enough) and cold boiled potatoes.


The Bavarian Sausage Combo (MYR24.00) combined 3 sausages - 1x Thüringer, 1x (forgot the name) and 1x plain normal pork sausage. This one comes with sauerkraut and potato salad. The sausages are, pretty good, but also not particularly special. Lots of other sausage-serving places like EuroDeli and Stadt have better sausages at similar prices.


Bavarian Bistro is in Lot 10 Hutong food court - it serves lots of beer, roast pork knuckles, sausages and a few different kinds of porky dishes. Non-halal, obviously :)

Stadt German Cuisine and Bistro - Father's Day Celebration!

Wow, been a week since my last update, didn't know time passed so quickly. Anyway just a short and sweet post. We went to Stadt German Cuisine and Bistro in Bandar Puteri Puchong to celebrate father's day.

(Side note: I find it a bit ridiculous and disgusting the way pretty much all restaurants set up these 'XXX' day special menus, and serve you the same food but charge you extra. But what to do, extra or no extra I go and eat and pay anyway, haha)

Forgot to take pictures of the interior, but it's nice and cosy, if a bit noisy. Also, we're limited to only a couple of (grossly overpriced) choices on the Father's Day special menu. Mum has the mushroom soup, which is actually pretty nice and non-creamed (I don't like cream-based mushroom soups).


On to the mains: we share two roast pork knuckles. The skin is nice and crispy, and the accompanying gravy complements the dish well. Pity the stingy sides though, check out the mashed potato, one mouthful already can finish.


We also go for a selection of sausages. Don't know the names of the individual sausages, but they were all delicious. Sausages with gravy and mustard, yum yum! I especially liked the one with melted cheese inside - think it was the long pinkish one. Naturally, these are pork sausages (as are all good sausages, methinks).


Overall, while the quality of the food was pretty nice and the ambience quite inviting, the prices were just insane. I kind of misplaced the receipt (again, lol), but recall that the knuckles were about $70-$80, and the 5 sausages were about $60-$70. Will probably have to come back here again on a non-event day to get a better idea of the price/food quality ratio.

Stadt is located in Bandar Puteri Puchong, the Giant side, in the 'middle row' of those shophouses. Map from their website.


Stadt German Cuisine and Bistro
No. 50 & 50-1, Jalan Puteri 1/4,
Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel: 03-8063 5380

EuroDeli Shop in Damansara Kim

It's amazing how often we learn new things. Last weekend, I learned that there are two Jalan 20/7's in PJ area. Was hunting for a famous char siu shop in the Jalan 20/7 near Jaya, but Google Maps helpfully directed us to Jalan SS 20/7 in Damansara Kim.

Having thus failed miserably in locating anything resembling char siu, we did the next closest thing - Pork at EuroDeli Shop!

The interior is minimalist with a plain black ceiling and unremarkable furnishings. What's different is a fridge on the left side of the restaurant selling deli sausages, ham, bacon, etc. Genius really. Come for lunch, enjoy the food, and buy even more meat to take home.


I had the Rolled Stuffed Pork Belly for MYR28.00. The different cuts of pork meat all rolled up was juicy and tender. However the skin was tough rather than crispy, and the entire dish was overpowered by excessive gravy. I'm a believer that gravy should complement a dish and not be the main taste.


The darling had the Roasted Pork Knuckles, also for MYR28.00. The serving was big, but again the skin was tougher than it was crispy, and this dish too suffered from the gravy taking centre stage taste-wise.


I have to thus conclude that although the taste of both dishes was nothing more than slightly above average, the servings are big and are very value for money. Between the two of us we managed only to finish off the Pork Belly and less than half the knuckle. Would I come again if I was in the area? Yes. Would I drive all the way here from home to satisfy a pork craving? Mmmmmmm ... probably not, there are other better places.